CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1969 Northwestern

3–⁠7 (3–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Alex Agase.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1969, game by game: lost at No. 11 Notre Dame 10–35; lost at No. 5 USC 6–48; lost vs. No. 11 UCLA 0–36; won at Illinois 10–6; won vs. Wisconsin 27–7; lost at No. 15 Purdue 20–45; lost vs. No. 1 Ohio State 6–35; lost at Minnesota 21–28; won vs. Indiana 30–27; lost vs. Michigan State 7–39+20−42Lost 10–35 at No. 11 Notre Dame-25No. 11 Notre DameLost 6–48 at No. 5 USC-42No. 5 USCLost 0–36 vs. No. 11 UCLA-36No. 11 UCLAWon 10–6 at Illinois+4IllinoisWon 27–7 vs. Wisconsin+20WisconsinLost 20–45 at No. 15 Purdue-25No. 15 PurdueLost 6–35 vs. No. 1 Ohio State-29No. 1 Ohio StateLost 21–28 at Minnesota-7MinnesotaWon 30–27 vs. Indiana+3IndianaLost 7–39 vs. Michigan State-32Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 20at11Notre DameL 10–⁠3514%
Sep 27at5USCL 6–⁠4811%
Oct 4vs11UCLAL 0–⁠3628%
Oct 11atIllinoisW 10–⁠642%
Oct 18vsWisconsinW 27–⁠762%
Oct 25at15PurdueL 20–⁠4514%
Nov 1vs1Ohio StateL 6–⁠3516%
Nov 8atMinnesotaL 21–⁠2827%
Nov 15vsIndianaW 30–⁠2736%
Nov 22vsMichigan StateL 7–⁠3943%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 39–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 110th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

Record
3–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
137–⁠306
Coach
Alex Agase
Elo
1337 −31 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
−3.5 No. 71 of 122 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Ray Forsthoffer and Pat Harrington
Most valuable player
Don Ross

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • John BradleyOTAP-2
  • Bill GallerDTAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1969 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1969 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State6–⁠18–⁠14
Michigan6–⁠18–⁠39
Purdue5–⁠28–⁠218
Minnesota4–⁠34–⁠5–⁠1
Iowa3–⁠45–⁠5
Indiana3–⁠44–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠43–⁠7
Northwestern3–⁠43–⁠7
Michigan State2–⁠54–⁠6
Illinois0–⁠70–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.